2015 Archive Stories Maryanne Dell - Pets

The system is broken. But it’s not the system’s fault. We have all these shelters, designed to help lost pets find their way home. But, far too often, that isn’t what happens. Go to any public shelter – the OC Animal Care facility in Orange, the Long Beach facility near El Dorado Park, any of the my

Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there; I do not sleep ... It’s my favorite poem about those who have gone before us. Its words ring true. I do not believe that those we send on to whatever comes after this life – heaven, or wherever dogs are, to paraphrase Will Rogers – exist

I don’t know about you, but I’m not really a fan of the ice bucket challenge.
Of doing it, that is. I’m all for donating, and the ALS Association, which advocates for research to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease), is a great recipient.
And the challenge is doing somethi

Two recent articles illustrate how differently two people can view the same issue. A July 17 story by Los Angeles writer Erin Auerbach discusses her joy at adopting dogs, rather than obtaining them from pet stores or breeders. Feeling righteous, she admits, she embraces the idea of “Why buy while those in shelters die?”

When I was a kid, dog training involved coercion and force. People jerked choke chains, shoved dogs’ butts on the ground to make them sit, pulled their front legs out from under them to get them to lie down. Barking dogs were dealt with using shock collars. Then came Karen Pryor, a marine mammal trainer who introduced the use of a

That darn cat was the champ. Twice. Rustoleum, aka Rusty, was a clear favorite of voters in the Register’s That Darn Cat contest, winning the online event in 2008 and tying for the title in 2012. The online feature had readers send in photos of their cats, and the winner was determined by the number of votes. Rustoleum lived

Two of my favorite words are “foster” and “failure.”
Put them together and you get what I think is one of the best things to happen to a pet in need of a home: a great home with great people who I know are terrific. When someone who has been fostering an animal – providing a great home and care for an animal